Pansy Invictus
by Rico Perrien
Summary: Harry Potter crushed her world. Would he crush her? Or could she turn the situation to her advantage?


**Pansy Invictus**

**Rating**: T One Chapter

**Summary:** Harry Potter had crushed her world. Would he crush her too?

**Warning: **Off-screen sexual misconduct by nasty people, with implications

**Disclaimer:** I have not claim to characters or scenes from the Harry Potter series, which belongs to JK Rowling and associates. I get nothing from this except the enjoyment of imagining and writing the story.

**Author's Notes:**

I have long been interested of how people end up where they are, and how they end up being the people they are. Often this depends on who their parents and grandparents were, and what happened to them during their lives.

It has been said that only the middle class cares about middle class morality – the poor can't afford it, and the upper classes have always had their own rules. It is also said that there is nothing so dangerous as someone who has nothing to lose.

Opinions expressed by certain characters are not necessarily those of the author.

Note to breeders – plot bunnies are very prolific.

**The Invitation**

Harry sent Pansy Parkinson an invitation to join him for dinner and conversation, at a location of her choice. In his note, he said he would like to ask her some questions about their school days. He promised he would come alone.

Pansy was not sure what to make of this invitation. She knew that if Potter said he would be alone, he would be alone. If nothing else, Harry was one who kept his word; you could trust him on that. He had specified that the location would be her choice, so she knew that if she wanted body-guards or other 'hired help', she was free to arrange it. Given who he was, and what he had accomplished, there was still the threat that, if he wanted to hurt her, no body-guards would help; they would not be able to get to her in time, and probably would be up against forces beyond their capacity anyway.

It was clear that Harry felt that she was no threat to him, now. If he had, she would be dead. Pansy knew this very, very clearly.

He had ruined her world and all her well-crafted plans. She had worked hard to set up things the way she wanted them, and because of Potter, her rosy future was not nearly as bright any more. Voldemort and all his followers were dead or in prison. Draco Malfoy had been shown up as the coward he was, and Voldemort had crippled his father for running to save Draco rather than killing students. In the trials that followed the Battle, all the holdings and wealth of the Malfoys, and the other Death Eater families, had been confiscated by the newly restored Ministry, with help from the goblins at Gringott's who had all the records of where the money was hidden. Lucius Malfoy was serving three consecutive sentences (no getting away with the excuse of the _Imperious_ curse this time, not with Potter's testimony at the Wizengamot) after having been 'Kissed' by Dementors, Draco was doing some hard time for his part in Dumbeldore's execution, and Narcissa had gone mad when her entire understanding of how the world was supposed to work came crashing down. Because of Potter.

Pansy had banked on marrying Draco Malfoy, heir apparent to the Lead Death Eater, second only to Lord Voldemort himself. She had worked hard to achieve this goal. Her family had not been wealthy, and as future mistress of the Malfoy fortune, the world had looked promising. That promise ended when Potter killed the Dark Lord.

After the Battle, and the confiscation of the vast amounts of wealth held by the Death Eaters, her family's fortunes had fallen badly. She was known to be Draco's lover, and no one wanted to be associated with her. She could not find anyone who would give her money (the thought of actually working never entering her head), and for a while she feared that she would end up in one of the Malfoy family's brothels, doing the one thing she was widely 'known' to be good at – whether or not this was true seemed to concern nobody but her. Very soon, things were going to get desperate.

Why did Potter want to see her? She had publicly offered to send him to Voldemort, in exchange for him leaving the school alone (not that anyone in the school believed this promise). Was Harry coming to exact his revenge for this betrayal? If so, he could have killed her any time in the last year or so, and he hadn't done so. She thought she understood why, because she thought she understood Harry. Her Slytherin cunning immediately looked for a way that this meeting could be turned to her advantage. She had a pretty good idea of how to go about it.

She returned a note to Harry, specifying a restaurant she liked, where they would be able to speak in private. She was pretty sure that she did not want a lot of people hearing what she had to say.

**The Conversation**

Pansy Parkinson and Harry Potter arrived at the restaurant that Pansy had chosen. A very good (and expensive) meal was ordered and eaten in a private room of the establishment, and as they sat sipping a bottle (or two or three) of a nice German Riesling, Harry asked a question which had been preying on his mind for several years.

"Self-interest, pure and simple," she replied, when Harry asked her why, at the start of the Battle, she had proposed handing him over to Lord Voldemort in exchange for the Dark Lord letting everyone else live.

Pansy leaned back in her chair and laughed. She was keenly aware that this posture emphasized her not-inconsiderable pectoral development, and part of the laughter was at Harry's very evident embarrassment at this display.

Harry continued "I don't understand. Now, you had hung around with Draco Malfoy and his bunch for years, spouting the same pure-blood, anti-muggle drivel that they did. You were known to be on their side. I don't know if you let Malfoy or his henchmen 'in', and I don't really care. However, until that moment, you had seemed to be in the background. You had never really presented a direct challenge to me – at that instant, you became a deadly threat. I don't understand the change."

Pansy smiled and said, "It was to save my life, in case you lost!"

Harry looked even more puzzled. "Now I really don't understand. Voldemort's bunch, including your Slytherin friends, were trying to kill me and they absolutely convinced that they had all the advantages. Voldemort and the Death Eaters figured they were invincible, and that they would wipe out the entire school. I think most of the people at Hogwarts knew, given his history, that Voldemort was going to kill everyone there who wasn't one of his followers, regardless of what he had said. But you were part of his followers – you didn't need to say anything which might destroy any credibility with those fighting him, because you had no credibility. It got you thrown out of the school at a time when you could have served him as an inside agent. Why then? Your group figured they had won. Why do something in case I lost if you were already certain of it?"

She said "Are you familiar with the saying "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer? Harry, I have studied you for many years. I think I know you, possibly better than you know yourself. I hear you are now the head to two Noble Houses, and you obviously don't have a clue how the system works."

She lifted her skirt slightly, showing her legs, the lace of her slip, and her blue satin knickers. "Growing up as a girl in a Noble House, I was always aware that my body did not belong to me – it was going to be an instrument of family social, financial and political manoeuvring, with the goal of creating beneficial alliances."

Harry was blushing furiously, as it was clear Pansy was offering herself to him. Pansy laughed, "Come on Potter. You can take a good look. You can't know what you can buy if you don't check out what's in the store."

As she pushed the edge of her skirt back down, she shook her head, saying "You are pitiful. You really don't know how the game is played."

Harry smiled. "Maybe I'm just not buying what you're selling." His smile decreased as he turned more serious. "Parkinson, the game has changed. Maybe there are some families who still play by the old rules, but a lot of them have gone down with Voldemort. I am sure that there are still going to be families where you can screw your way to the top. But not many."

Pansy smiled, and said "That's where you're wrong. There will always be places where blood and family connections will matter, and the demands of the dynasty trump everything else. "

Harry responded, "Perhaps, but they won't be the ones you went to school with, and not the ones you had your digs into. They are gone; the house of Malfoy is gone, the house of Crabbe is gone, the house of Goyle is gone, Nott is gone, Doholov is gone, LeStrange is gone, McNair is gone."

Harry raised his voice angrily, "I never had the advantages of an 'Ancient and Noble House'. I never had a dynasty, because a homicidal maniac murdered my family and his followers murdered my godfather. I had to live with muggle relatives who hated me and abused me. Why should I give a tinkers' dam about dynastic pretences when they are completely irrelevant. Your Ancient and Noble Houses, and their leader, had been trying to kill me ever since I was born! I killed them! They are gone!""

Pansy smiled. "Harry, those particular people are gone. You are now the rising star. You think you are finally in charge of your destiny. You're not! However, I think I can help you, and I think this can be to my advantage as well as yours. And Harry, don't get so full of yourself – it doesn't work for you, and you haven't had generations of snottiness to train you in its proper use. "

Harry was rather affronted by this evaluation, but at the same time impressed that Pansy had risked annoying him, and amused at her analysis of the situation. He started to think that there was someone here that he might be able to respect, which, given their joint history, was quite a change.

"First off, what is the primary characteristic that that stupid raggedy old hat values in a Gryffindor?" Harry replied, puzzled at this apparent change in the line of thought, "I think it is courage."

Pansy replied, "Correct. And what is the primary characteristic of Ravenclaw?"

"Intelligence, no?"

"Right. And what is the primary characteristic of Slytherins?"

Harry thought for a minute. "I think it's 'Cunning', isn't it?"

Pansy smiled slightly and said "Absolutely right. You will notice that intelligence is not something that Slytherins were noted for. Gryffindors either. There are of course exceptions. Your friend Granger is one. I flatter myself (puffing out her chest again, making it apparent that the 'flatter' part may have been emotional, but certainly not physical) that I am one."

"Growing up, I was taught muggle history, and what I might call 'social studies', that is the study of social systems. It is clear that feudal societies, based on either families or other interest groups, or both, are the only really stable systems that last over a single person's lifetime. All other variations are what they called in Arithromancy 'statistical fluctuations'. You really need to read an interesting book by one Nicolo Machievelli, called 'The Prince'. In a way, it was unfortunate that you were not raised in a family that knew about the way Noble Houses work."

At this Harry exploded "Unfortunate!. My family was murdered!"

Pansy held up her hands as if to quiet him down "I am sorry, very bad choice of words." She minded herself that this was a man who could kill with a thought if provoked too far; he had almost destroyed the Dark Lord when he was only a baby. He could also show great emotional restraint, but she had better not push it too far.

She continued, "Anyway, Noble Houses, and other feudal societies, work by a continual shifting of influence, alliances, wealth, social connections, and favours. At the end of the day, the currency is power. As a girl from a rather poor but 'Noble' family, this was drilled into me since I was in diapers. Sex between the next generations of the families is just one way that the Great Houses set up alliances and property deals. I was supposed to get together with Draco Malfoy, and marry him if I could."

"The pure-blood and anti-muggle comments were camouflage. If you were going to belong to Malfoy's clique, you had to 'talk the talk'. Daphne and Tracey, (sorry, Harry, you would know them as Greengrass and Davis) were from families that had enough wealth and power to be relatively secure on their own, but not enough to be interesting as allies, and not bigoted enough to be drafted as Death Eaters. They had no interest in the bigotry, and they weren't part of the club. Remember, I had to be part of the club."

"Look at the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy was obviously in it for the power. He had the pureblood bigotry, absolutely certain that he was better than anyone else. He followed Voldemort as a way to indulge his bigotry and gain more power. When Voldemort disappeared after his first encounter with you, Lucius attempted to take over the Death Eaters. He couldn't, because some of them, notably Bellatrix LeStrange, didn't trust him anymore. They felt he had betrayed the Dark Lord by claiming he had been under the _Imperius_ curse, and not going to Azhkeban proudly, as they had."

"Draco and his bunch were into power. They used money, and political connections, to basically run Slytherin house. Snape was useless in trying to control them, because of 'Daddy's' influence. To a teenage boy, power equals sex, nothing more, nothing less."

"Draco used his power for extra privileges, and sexual dominance. He and his two stooges were lusty bastards, and Crabbe and Goyle couldn't have got the time of day from a girl, much less anything else, if it hadn't been for Draco. That pair couldn't find their way out of a paper bag, and I am convinced Goyle had to drop his pants to count past ten." Harry shook his head and chuckled at this image.

Pansy continued, "It got rather nasty sometimes. There weren't too many virgins in Slytherin House. I don't know whether it was you who killed those two, but if so, you have my undying gratitude."

"Yes, I let Draco 'in', as you so delicately phrased it. By choice, because I was under instructions from my father to get as close to the Malfoys, and more particularly the Malfoy fortune and power, as I could. I wouldn't touch his two thugs with a long pole, and by cuddling up to Malfoy, I wouldn't let them touch me. As Draco's main squeeze, they couldn't come after me. Other girls weren't so lucky."

"Some were smart enough to be able to avoid them most of the time; whenever Draco and the goons planned a party or other event that was likely to result in the rape of some poor girl, Daphne and Tracey somehow always managed to have some project elsewhere or get a detention or something."

"Harry, I assume that you are aware of the so-called 'dormitory effect'. No? Well, it is fairly common that girls living together will have their menstrual cycles synchronize." Harry blushed at this information, which he had not known. In Gryffindor, it was not a subject that any of his female housemates had discussed in his presence.

Pansy continued "Well, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber would usually schedule the parties when most of the girls would be at their most fertile, and at the most receptive part of their cycle, and they would have their way with one or more of them, forcibly if the girl objected. Draco would have her first, then the others would have her for the rest of the evening. If she got pregnant, they would hit her with the "Abortus" hex – I got really tired of comforting a young girl washing the miscarriage out of her panties in the house lavatory, or taking her up to Pomfrey for treatment. Poppy taught me the 'Contraceptus' charm so I could prevent at least some of this (she asked me to call her 'Poppy' after she saw that I was trying to help the girls even if I was not able to stop it). I had been using the 'Contraceptus' myself, or using various mechanical or chemical means when I was with Draco, so I didn't end up the 'Young Lady Malfoy' too soon."

"Madame Pomfrey tried to complain to Dumbledore and the Board of Directors, and threatened to take it to the legal authorities – Lucius Malfoy saw to it that she was informed in no uncertain terms that, if she caused trouble for any of the children of the Death Eaters, she would lose her credentials, her license, her job, and quite probably her teeth, if not her life."

"Anyway, cozying up to Draco gave me some protection. However, when the Battle came, this was not enough. Lord Voldemort didn't care who was screwing who, as Crabbe and Goyle were having just about everybody, and the girls they had were not necessarily (or even likely) old Voldy's supporters."

"Remember, Voldemort was blinded by hate, and to be truthful about it, fear, of you Harry. He knew that there was a prophesy that you might defeat him. You were blinded by desperation, because you knew the prophecy, and knew one of you needed to kill the other."

"If you lost and the Dark Lord won, he would only remember those who were his supporters. In his fury, he would be killing just about everyone else. We knew he had killed Pettigrew, and had tortured Lucius when he only appeared to fail him. I had to publicly declare I was on his side, otherwise, I was just Draco's whore, and likely unworthy to be one of his chosen. And as you so succinctly pointed out, I really had nothing to lose from your side."

As I said, I know you. You were honourable, whatever that means. I knew you would remember that, for all my hanging around with Draco, I had not really been a threat. I made some nasty statements about you and Granger and Weasley, but nothing more. I knew you would be puzzled by my statement, and that you wouldn't likely kill me out of hand, although I was not so sure about some others, Longbottom for example."

"I was pretty sure you wouldn't kill me on a whim, but Voldemort would. He really loved to kill! I had to make that statement in case you lost, otherwise, I was dead. Your side might kill me, or not, but I was completely sure He would."

Harry nodded his head as he thought about her explanation. She had worked out the consequences, and took her action. Over the years Harry had acted on the information available at the time, and sometimes it worked, and sometimes not. Pansy had taken a calculated risk and won, or at least she had lost no more than was inevitable.

"Okay Harry, now consider Narcissa Malfoy."

Harry looked puzzled. "How does she come into it? She knew her husband was a Death Eater, and her son was moving up the ranks. She lost her fortune, and apparently lost her mind because of it".

Pansy shook her head. "Harry, Harry, Harry. I told you, you don't know how the game is played. Do you imagine that Narcissa ever really loved Lucius?"

Harry again looked puzzled. "But she married him. She must have loved him. That's how it works."

Pansy laughed bitterly, "Harry, you were raised by muggles, and not just muggles, but stupid, middle-class muggles. Narcissa married Lucius because the House of Black made an alliance with the House of Malfoy. As a wife of the head of a great House, her job was to produce heirs. Sure, it was a comfortable living, but that was her only role in life. She had been taught that from infancy. It was all her life was."

"After producing Draco, she found she could have no more children. Rumour has it that Lucius brought back a bit of disease from one of his work excursions 'breaking in' new girls at what Draco referred to as one of the 'family businesses', and either he or Narcissa became sterile. Of course, it is always the woman who is blamed for being barren (in spite of the clear evidence nursing at her breasts). In some Houses, an infertile wife was sent back to her father in disgrace. That would have hurt Lucius' pride, and if his next wife proved infertile as well, the question would arise as to who was really the infertile one – even raising such a question would destroy Lucius."

"This meant that Draco was her sole link to her life in the House of Malfoy. You heard that she got Snape to agree to an unbreakable vow to protect Draco and not let him risk his life at the demand of the Dark Lord. She would do anything for her son. It was not the loss of Lucius (who she was starting to despise anyway, as his role in the Death Eaters was the reason her son was threatened). It was not the loss of her fortune. It was the destruction of her son that drove her mad. Her position and her concept of reality were bound up in being the wife in an Ancient and Noble House, and the mother of the Heir, and that was gone. Her son lived, but now instead of the head of a great house, he was a common criminal, and damn lucky not to have been 'Kissed'. Her world was gone, and so she went mad."

Pansy smiled "Okay Harry, now for your lesson in the way of the real world of 'Ancient and Noble Houses'."

"First, you are the head of the AANH of Potter, and of the AANH of Black. As such, you have immense wealth and immense political power."

Harry said "I don't care about the money. I don't care about political power. All I have every wanted was for people to leave me alone!"

Pansy laughed "Harry, have you ever heard the saying 'If you have a pile of shit, you are going to attract flies'. No? When you have a pile of money and power, there will be people who want a piece of it. And to be perfectly honest with you, I am one of them. As I told you, as the daughter of an Ancient but poor house, that is how my world works. Always has, always will."

Harry looked a bit disgusted "So you're willing to sell yourself to me for some money and power? That's what the skirt business was, earlier?"

Pansy shook her head sadly. "You're not listening. You still have the middle-class idea of the relationship between men and women. Of course, there is the offer of sex in return for a comfortable life. But isn't that the case for most marriages?"

Harry looked horrified "No! What about love? My parents loved each other."

Pansy smiled bitterly, "Nice work if you can get it. Love can come, but it is not the basis of survival. Have you read the American author O. Henry, or heard his story 'The Gift of the Magi'? No? Very romantic. But from the point of view of a girl from an Ancient and Noble House, you have a story of a pair of poor lovers who sell their only possessions to please the other and you can't help but think 'These two idiots are going to starve to death within a week, because they are both too stupid to recognise how far up the creek they are. At least they will starve in each other's cold, shivering arms'."

"When you first asked me your question earlier, I used the term 'interest'. It is a term often used in my situation. 'Interest' means that there are consequences for your actions, and some consequences are more favourable than others. To get through life, you work in your own interest, or self-interest if you prefer that term, or the interest of your family. Your interest might be money, power, or in your case, to be left alone."

"Harry, you are wealthy. The only way you are going to be left alone is if you built layers of people between you and the 'flies'. On your grand estates, you will have your steward and his or her staff, and the house staff and house elves so you don't have to do all the work. Politically, you can have allies who will sit in the Wizengamot and work on your behalf, so you don't have to show up to make sure that the government is not stealing your money (never trust a government, even if you own them!). If you don't have these people, you will spend your life fending off people who want what you have, or what they think you have. You will never be left alone."

"Second, you are the head of two houses."

Harry smiled. "Parkinson, you already said that."

Pansy smiled and said, "Well, I did and I didn't. The first time I talked about power and money. This time it is about sex."

Harry had been taking a sip of his wine, and choked on it, coughing for a minute. "What?"

"Sex. Family. Inheritance. That sort of thing."

"Oh" Harry said. I thought you were going to make another offer".

Pansy smiled and replied "Well yes, I am."

Harry choked again. "What?"

"Calm down, Harry. I'll explain. You have to remember that the Ancient and Noble Houses are very patriarchal. Consider the Malfoys – Lucius had all the power, although Narcissa was just as well connected, and just as wealthy. Under wizarding law, a man can be the Lord of more than one house, but a woman can only by the Lady of one house. Her children can only inherit from that house, unless they are officially adopted by another house that has no male heirs. Females can inherit as the Lady of the House, if there are no male heirs, but only for that one House. Rather pathetic, isn't it?"

"Harry, as the Lord Potter, and the Lord Black, you are entitled - don't you love that word, implying that your noble titles can get you anything, and usually they can. Sorry, I digress. You are legally entitled to have two official wives, one Lady Potter, and one Lady Black. If you take only one wife, she will be either Lady Potter or Lady Black, not both, and on your death (unless you adopt an heir), the other House will cease to exist. On top of that, as the sole heir of both Houses, you can have as many concubines as you want."

This time, Harry not only choked on his wine, but sprayed it over the adjacent table; fortunately, there was no one still sitting there. "WHAT!"

"Hang on, Harry. Under wizarding law, a concubine is bound in a contract very similar to a marriage contract. Under this contract, her job is to produce heirs to the House. However, these children can only inherit if they are acknowledged by the Lord of the House. Usually, this is a formality, but there have been cases where the son got very full of his own importance, and tried to murder the 'official' son and daughter, as well as the father. He was 'advised' that his part in the family had ended."

"Anyway, in return for her place in the House, a concubine is contractually bound to be faithful to the Lord, to protect the purity of the blood-line (and there have been some famous cases where that didn't work out so well either)."

"You have to remember that typically, with the Great Houses, the official wife and Lady of the House is the daughter of another Great House, and the marriage is a political, social, and economic alliance between the families, with love having nothing to do with it. In Roman times, and yes some Houses go back that far, if a Lord was actually in love with his Lady, he was often ridiculed for it. The concubines are where the love matches were made."

Harry looked stunned at this information. Certainly, he had not heard this from his associates, and definitely not from Molly Weasley who seemed intent that Ginny would be his 'one-and-only'. From what Pansy had just told him, he was not in the market for a 'one-and-only', unless he wanted to dissolve one of the Houses. Whose memory would he be dishonouring if he did that?

He looked at Pansy "You've given me an awful lot to think about. Thank you for this information. However, you also said that this information could be to your advantage, as well as mine, about the time you flashed your drawers. Would you care to enlighten my on that point?"

Pansy smiled broadly. She raised her bottom up from her chair slightly, slipped her hands up under her skirt on both sides and tugged her knickers down and off. She handed her ivory and silver lace panties to Harry, who again looked puzzled.

"These were blue."

As he said this, the garment in question changed to a teal green. Pansy laughed "Harry, Harry, Harry. You've been around magic for how long? You've never checked out your girlfriend's pants?"

Harry blushed at this enquiry.

Pansy laughed. "Potter, you are really something. You faced death for years. You fought and killed the most feared wizard in recent history, and you're terrified of a girl's undies. Or is it your afraid of what Molly Weasley will do to you when she finds you've been trying to get into Ginny's?"

Harry looked stunned at this revelation. Pansy continued "Harry, remember I have studied you. Besides, Molly Weasley seduced Arthur when they were at school when they were sixteen. They eloped when they were eighteen. Do you really think that she doesn't know you and Ginny have been checking out each other's goodies?"

"Anyway, these are some of the 'RAINBOW' brand of witches' underwear, and they change colour randomly. I have several bras and teddies that do the same." Harry blushed again.

Pansy turned serious. "Harry, as I told you. I have studied you, and I think I know you. From what I know, I could even get to like you. However, that is irrelevant. As the daughter of a poor House, I must consider the ramifications on my actions and act accordingly." She took a deep breath.

"Harry, thank you for a very nice dinner, better than I have been able to afford for quite some time. I have enjoyed myself, and our conversation."

"Harry, this evening, I have been honest with you. You need people around you who can hold off the parasites. Those people need to know how the systems work, and how to work them. They need to free you from the drudgery of running two Great Houses."

"I have told you that I come from a lesser House which is not wealthy, and my family would like to be allied to one that is. I would like to think I am relatively clever, and that I know a thing or two about how the system works. Under the right or wrong conditions, I would be one of those parasites. I would rather be considered a symbiote. "

Pansy sat up straight as if to make a formal statement. "Harry, you need staff who can manage your estates and run the show for you so you can be left alone. You need a head steward, and additional sub-stewards for your various properties. You need people who are clever and cunning, and experienced with people who are cunning and ruthless. In short, you need me."

"In addition, you need two wives, with the option of having additional concubines."

"Harry Potter, I am prepared and indeed eager to take on any of these positions, either as an upper-level employee, as a concubine or as one of your wives. Consider the presentation of my panties as a declaration of interest. I am willing to take whatever position is offered, and I do mean any position."

At this, Harry's jaw dropped. He was stunned.

Pansy laughed at his expression.

"Harry, you didn't know you were going to do so, but you have just conducted a job interview!"


End file.
